Strands

Strands Casino Gravity****

You’d be forgiven for thinking that, over the last while, every Dublin band has worked with Stephen Shannon. As is often the case in any scene where one producer becomes every band’s best pal, Shannon has featured in the small-print of numerous albums over the past few years.

Working out of the Experimental Audio studio in the bottom of his suburban Dublin garden, Shannon has provided production or studio assists on albums from Adrian Crowley, Vyvienne Long, Babybeef, 202s, Cap Cap Cap, The Sick Indigent Song Club, Crayonsmith, Holy Roman Army, The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock and many more.

As befits a jobbing producer, there’s considerable musical width and depth to those credits, with Shannon’s own tastes probably best guaged from his ongoing membership in the combo Halfset, who

have released two fine, commendable albums of pristine electronic tunes) and, now, flying solo as Strands.

You could join a couple of dots between Halfset's last album (Another Way of Being There) and Strands. Both share an imaginative approach to elegant sounds, a sweeping sense of atmospheric grandeur and the sort of engaging studio sheen you'd expect from someone of Shannon's standing.

These beautiful nuggets shine in unexpected, rewarding ways. Listeners might note from the textures and tones here that Shannon has worked on film soundtracks, and there are lilts to the lovely, chugging Framed, the glistening poise of The Alamoand Nylon. They will echo in your mind long after any silver screen has turned dark.

Moreover, it's the richness, vibrancy and detail of Shannon's compositional palette (see the cut of this jib on Chow Bell) as much as as any production nous that makes Strands such a quiet, triumphant thrill. Another one for 2010's roll of honour. See myspace.com/520805042

Download tracks: Framed, The Alamo, Chow Bell